As the World Falls Down
by Visions of Paradise
Summary: The Labyrinth is dying. Humans have stopped believing and things are dissappearing. Jareth has no choice but to get Sarah to believe again. Will She?
1. Jareth's illness

**As the World Falls Down**

**I'm going to be hated for this, but trust me, if you are a labyrinth fan, you WILL love this. Read and review plz!**

Jareth looked out his wide window. Sitting on the ledge, he looked across the vast land. Nothing moved.

The more majestic things of the Labyrinth had come to vanish. The sparkles that generously adorned the walls and every gloomy tree of the Labyrinth's maze were sorely fading. The smaller things and creatures of the land were dissappearing. Parts of the ground the Labyrinth maze sat on gave way and he had to figure a way to replace them. No one was allowed into the Labyrinth. He couldn't afford it, the way things were going now.

When he thought about it deeply, he realized, not many had ever called on him recently. Dismissed as mere fairy-tale rubbish. But Jareth knew in the back of his mind, the goblins were slowly dissappearing one by one. And he knew, when the Goblins were gone, slowly but surely, he'd go too. The goblins were all released. His legions of servants, his armies, and every other person in his servitude were released. What was the point if they just suddenly dissappeared on him.

Jareth dropped to his knees on the ground wrapping his arms around himself. In vain he thought holding himself was the only way to keep himself from falling apart.

Human beings were the only thing that kept him and his minions alive. It was human's beliefs that kept things going...people were growing up and losing faith. Jareth concluded as his coughing stopped. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the ground and noticed the red spots on the stone floor. Blood. But this could not be. He was immortal. Immortals never bled. Then something broke the slience as he smudged his eyeshadow with one of his hands and stated the obvious "You're dying."

Jareth looked over to see a small goblin with large green eyes. "What do you mean?" He asked, trying to put up a false-front.

"Jareth, you can't hide these things from us. We feel them as well. The humans are not believing." Jareth knew what she meant, but decided he needed to reassure himself.

"What do you mean, Loki?" He asked as he stood, continuing to look out the window.

"You're losing your immortality, sir." Loki sad walking solemnly to his side by his knees.

Jareth turned swiftly to hide the tears gathering in his eyes. He was a king. Kings do not have weaknesses. He spoke with a trembling throat about to suffer another coughing fit "I know it. I can feel it. Everything and everyone are slowly dissappearing. It's moving so fast, I cannot stop it. It's consuming everything. I don't know what to do." Jareth closed his eyes and a tear let out suddenly and stained the ground. "I'm losing everything. Tell me, what can I do to fight?"

Loki sighed and spoke again "You must get someone who believes in you with all their heart. You must get Sarah Williams to believe again and pass it on to others. Without her, nothing will survive through the week...human's dreams will cease and we will lose everything"

Jareth understood. Sarah was now 36 with a beautiful baby boy. Her husband died in the line of police work and she was left to tend to her son, alone.

He nodded. He looked one last time out the window and saw a small creature, resembling a dog mixed with a fox dissappear. The dog he rode on vanished with him. Jareth kept his composure, though he realized- the Labyrinth really was dying.

"How will I convince her?"


	2. Sarah nowadays

Sarah turned up the volume to her stero as Avril Lavigne's "My Happy Ending" blasted and consumed her mind and seemed to engulf the room. For the first time, her mind went back to the Labyrinth. How would things have been different, if she had accepted? Adam would've never came into her life. She would've never been raped, and her son, David, wouldn't exist. And she wouldn't be alone right now.

She looked at the bottom of the bottle of clear Cardigan rum and was amazed. The bottle was almost gone. She pushed herself up and struggled with her sense of balance. She pushed herself on the wall to keep herself on her feet and stumbled down the hallway. She flipped on the lightswitch when she went into the bathroom and took a long hard look into the mirror, and at once, wished she hadn't. Her oval face was sunken and her body was now a curvy-disaster area. She just decided a few years ago to stop trying.

Adam always said she looked 'Like a cross-dressing hooker trying to be Wynonna Judd." Looking deeper and deeper into the mirror, she could feel herself slipping. She suddenly felt again, like on many occassions - He was right.

Her mid-section remained a little big from the pregnancy, and the blouse she wore struggled to break free and run back to her closet. Her heart sank and she felt so unwanted. Her husband died honorably, protecting someone else's life, but, nobody else knew him like she did. All the bruises she had to cover with pancaked make up. All the cuts on her wrists she blamed the dog for, when she knew damn well there was no dog. She sometimes wished her son away and was shocked when no one showed up to do so. David was the only good thing she had going, and even then, sometimes she wished she could get a break. She let a teenage girl down the street baby-sit him for the night.

When Adam was alive, things started out well enough, but always turned to poison when she touched them. It just started with him coming home late. Followed by the screaming matches about how bad a mother she was and how pathetic a human being she was. Then it progressed to fights that ending with black eyes and bruises and broken doors. And finally, before she finally won with news of his death, the razor.

It started as a game he'd threaten her with. That "if she didn't cut her own wrists to save herself, he'd do it for her." And he did. But never deep enough that she could take a long needed break from life. Never a single vacation.

She needed a break long enough to sort things out.

Long enough to straighten her life out.

Long enough to find an escape.

She didn't have to wait long. Within a few minutes, she made a wish to be taken away. It didn't take long for the young woman babysitting down the street to come running up Sarah's driveway to tell her, her son was missing.


	3. He's Gone!

**Author's note: Thanks for the kind reviews. Hoped you liked this. I don't know exactly how long this story is going to be but it will have one hell of an ending. BTW, if you have any problems with alcohol, drug references, diving into past events, suicidal thoughts and attempts at, and are HIGHLY CHRISTIAN you may want to leave now. This is your only warning and any flame reviews or emails I receive will be read through or glanced at then heavily laughed at. **

Jenny came running to the old Victorian style house, knocking on Sarah's door urgently. She left the child unattended in the playpen for less then ten seconds. When she came back, not only was she not going to be paid, but she was going to probably be blamed for the child's disappearance. She waited a few more seconds as her heart pounded. She reached her hand up to the door and knocked firmly and loudly again.

Sarah shook herself awake somehow; she managed to pass out in the tub. The tub, surprisingly was filled with warm water that was now beginning to become cold and the bottle of rum was ontop of the counter. She held her head hearing the ringing in her ears. She wondered to herself whether she should struggle to get up or just stay in the tub and hope something electrical would fall into the tub. Slowly but surely she began to get out.

"I'm coming!" She yelled to the impatient door. She tried not to slip on the tile floor as she walked and stumbled her way down the hall with her clothes clinging to her frame. She mumbled some obscenities as she stood back from the door battling her instincts to just lay on the floor and die. She looked in her empty hand and found nothing, hoping to find the bottle of rum. She threw open the door to see a panting Jenny. Suddenly she looked near Jenny's feet. Her son wasn't with her.

"Miss Williams! I tried so hard to call you but you wouldn't answer your phone! Then I-" Sarah shushed her.

"Where is he?" She asked as she leaned against the frame of the doorway. Jenny took a deep breath to steady herself.

"That's what I'm trying to say, he's gone!" Sarah's reaction made her become even number than she already was. She let the news run through her mind.

"What do you mean gone!" Sarah asked as she looked passed Jenny and down the street. It had begun to rain really badly. It was pouring in thick sheets you couldn't see more than four feet in front of you. A humongous storm was on its way. Blindly, Sarah ran down the street into the rain with Jenny running after her.

The water sprayed Sarah's already burning eyes and prevented her from going as fast as she wanted. She began running up the hill on the side of Jenny's house. A lightning strike made the street go suddenly darker than it seemed to have ever been. The rain was cold on Sarah's skin, but she didn't care. Sarah slipped on the mud and tried to stand up stumbling as her feet ran out from under her.

Jenny helped Sarah up "I left him alone for one second I swear! And when I came back, he was gone!"

Sarah climbed up the hill blindly, sliding over the porch fence, she shoved the door open. She stumbled inside almost falling on the ground screaming for her son. There was no answer. No giggle to signify a game of hide and seek no cry to say something had gone terribly wrong. No nothing. The silence made her uneasy as she felt her way along the wall in the dark. The straining way she listened for the smallest thing made her ache. Her panting was the only sound she heard.

She looked back "Jenny. Where are you?" No answer came to her ears. She began retracing her steps to the front door. She opened it and called into the storm. "Jenny!" Again, there was no answer.

She went back into the darkness of the house and continued searching. Calling the child's name. Hearing small breaths of air being taken she was positive were not her own. As she came to the large staircase, she began to ascend the stairs. A ball bounced passed her. He was up there. She hurried her pace, now having incentive. She took a deep breath as she turned the door knob to the first door she passed. She threw it open expecting the worst and to her surprise, she saw nothing. She went to the next and the next and finally came to the last door at the end of the hall. She gulped as she slowly turned the handle and took a deep breath. She suddenly stood motionless.

Someone was laughing.


	4. Vanity Insanity

**Author's note: Well, thanks for the kind reviews. I'm thinking of 2 ways this story could go, to have an unforgettable ending, that just might make you add me to your list of favorite authors... or at least to your fav stories list. I also think it's pathetic and sad that for my FIRST COMPLETE story on Pirates of the Carribean only got about 8 reviews. That kinda makes me not want to write. Just so you know, it includes humor, an entirely new story line and a little bit of everything including a moral, death, love, and rebirth. .... PLEASE READ... I'm Desperate! Btw, there is some mild cussing. lol... anyways... ONTO THE STORY!  
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The laughing continued then abruptly stopped, with the storm outside of the out of power house.

Sarah turned back, seeing a shadow run past in the darkness. She knew as revenge, he took Toby instead. She suddenly felt pure hatred. Looking to all sides of her, she screamed in anger and slammed her fist against the wall.

She threw herself towards the railing as lightning lit the downstairs, she heard some noises as though someone ran out the door.

"What the fuck do you want from me!" She yelled and turned around seeing the doors opening and closing themselves. "I wanted Toby safe! What the hell do you have against people being happy!?"

She threw herself on the floor and sat on her knees holding her head. Everything spun. She had said her piece. The words she wanted to say for so long finally came out. The doors slammed shut simultaneously. She ran her fingers through her hair, bringing her hands to her face.

"All I wanted was to be happy." She sobbed. Were her plans too much? Have a family and a successful career. Her dream since childhood was to be a writer.

The door at the end of the hall slowly swung open. Seeing the small flickering light from a single lit candle, she followed. Once she entered the room the door closed. She found the candle set on the desk of a vanity. She sat infront of it and looked at herself as memories of Adam's voice flooded her mind. Studying her reflection, she dismayed.

How much farther was there to fall from grace?

Her hair lay about her face, mangled. Her red cheeks lost all touch with her uneven skin tone and the rest of her she revered as a complete disaster. She treated herself as some unexplored territory that wasn't worth a dime, or even the time to look at. A land barren of any life, with frightening trees with tangled branches that never bore any fruit.

She looked at her eyes. Green. Once upon a time, Adam said she had the greenest eyes that would make any emerald jealous. Once. He quickly denied the compliment and yelled at her _"I meant to say your eyes are so green, make an emerald sick! As would any man who had to be with the likes of you!"_

Suddenly, the memories flooded back as she looked at herself so deeply she seemed hypnotized.

_"Love? Why did you ever think that?" _

_"You're such a fat pig I can hardly get around you!...If I could fit my arms around you, it would be to strangle you because I feel so sorry you have to look at yourself everyday!"_

_"You say YOU'RE unhappy? Look at me! Your son has to grow up with a good father and a sorry excuse for a mother!"_

Sarah put her head down on the desk, about to go mad from the voices. She lightly pounded her forehead onto the desk.

"You could've been happy, you know."

She lifted her head and looked around the room. Appearantly, more voices were joining the conversation. This one gave her a sense of relief. It's heavy British accent was concealed lightly. She saw nothing and put her head down on the desk again.

"If you had taken the offer, you could've been happy." Jareth's voice filled the room, but his presence was nowhere to be seen.

She opened her eyes and stared at the floor. She felt ill suddenly and fell to the floor.

"I know." She whispered admitting finally that even though in the end of that, she did get Toby back, but she had lost in the greater picture. She suddenly felt her vision go blurry.

"So this is what dying's like..." She said as she let her eyes close peacefully.

Jareth carefully picked her up, and together they dissapeared. Journeying through time and alternate dimensions to the land known as the Underground. Jareth wondered just how long he had left.


	5. The Beginning of the End?

Sarah's eyes fluttered open. Revealing she was no longer at her house. The room was drenched in an eerie darkness that made her uncomfortable. The canopy bed she laid on, lay to the furthest wall from the door. Nothing besides her was alive in the room, though the wooden carvings of goblins around the room on the red oak seemed to contain a life of their own. She slowly got up using one of the four posts of the bed. She began stumbling to the vanity and sat on the stool that looked to her as though it was waiting for her.

As soon as she touched her body to the stool, the three candles on either side of the mirror lit themselves. She looked at it in suprise for a moment, but dismissed it just as quickly. She assumed she was in a dream and would wake up at any moment to find her son crying to be fed and find her bills waiting for her return on her dresser. But her aching head and ringing ears seemed just a litttle unusual.

She looked in the mirror and gasped, turning her head away; not believing her eyes. She slowly turned her head back towards the mirror. What she saw made her so happy, she cried.

Her mangled hair was silky and shining. Her lips were full and pouty. Her complexion slightly tan and warm. Her body was slim and fit and her scars lifted like a plastic surgery miracle. For the first time in a long time, Sarah Williams cried tears of joy. For a few minutes she sat infront of the mirror, marveling at her new self. She was beautiful.

Loki appeared in the doorway as she lifted herself up quickly, thinking it was Jareth. She eased herself back to her sitting position as she held her head in her hands. Loki hobbled over and handed her a goblet of water, which she greatfully sipped.

As Loki waltzed back out of the door, Sarah asked him "Am I a prisoner here?"

"No, you can go. We have no power to stop you." Loki said as he continued out of the room into the stone hall. Sarah forced herself up and walked toward the small goblin.

"What do you mean you have no power to stop me?" Sarah inquired, following Loki to the ballroom. The humongous windows that led onto a balcony, were sealed tightly with blackout curtain letting the dusty room gather a dry smell that held no life.

Loki sighed "There's just his Majesty and I. No one else is here." Loki lit a few candles carrying a small step ladder.

"You mean I could leave here?" Sarah said, she was so relieved she could hardly believe it.

"Yes, Sarah, you could go." Loki put the stool down and led Sarah outside onto the balcony. "But there's really no place left to go to."

Sarah's tears almost flowed instantly.

The Labyrinth had changed so much since she first saw it. Humongous pieces were missing of the walls. The emerald green hedge maze was minimized in size, and what was left was nothing more than thick dried branches. Nothing moved. There were no goblins running around, there was no evil cackling. The Underground looked like the desert. Except this desert was once enchanted and ruled over by a king. A king she had once feared so much, she now looked upon in pity.

She worried for her son's safety. Looking around her feet for Loki, she found nothing and headed back into the silent castle looking for him.

&&&&&&&&&&

"Loki, is there nothing I can do?" Jareth asked standing in the throne room, he paced infront of the window.

"Well, there is one thing- no. Too dangerous." Loki concluded and began to exit the room.

Jareth's voice haulted him. "Tell me now, Loki." Jareth stopped pacing to face him. "I'll do anything to save my kingdom and you know it."

Loki sighed "Yes sire. If you trade your life for the Labyrinth, that Labyrinth will be fine, the creatures will return- but you'll be dead."

Jareth smiled smiled half-heartedly knowing in some metaphorical way, he'll have made a difference in the life of his kingdom. " I know, Loki. I know."

Jareth thought for a moment. If he did sacrifice himself for the sake of the Labyrinth, everything would thrive and go back to the way it was before, except he would not be around to see it. What would his life be like without him?

He finally sighed and answered "If there is no other way, Loki. I will."

&&&&&&&&&&

Sarah continued looking for her son. Calling his name that echoed in the stone walls and made the lit candles tremble in fear. She found her way back to the ballroom. She sat in one corner of it. She sighed and sat with her knees pulled against her chest.

"It's not fair!" She yelled as she pounded her fists onto the floor. The candles around the room lit themselves to reveal Jareth standing in the corner, dressed the same way as he had when they danced. Blue sequined coat sparkling, like a gentlmen fashioned with a handkercheif. But something about his eyes changed to Sarah as he stood infront of her, seeming to look her over. Something changed.

They still had the cold-hard stare with the lined eyes that seemed narrowed at her, and yet, they weren't frightening. Her heart sped up with the thought of seeing him in those clothes. She remembered how lightly they danced.

For a moment, the silence reigned over everything else. They simply stared at eachother for a moment.

"You really shouldn't sit on that floor in that gown. It's likely to get dirty." Jareth said as he offered her his hand.

Sarah looked down to find her clothes replaced by the exact gown she had worn before. She stood closely to him and continued their staring match.

"May I have this dance, Sarah Williams?" Jareth asked her almost whispering, as he moved his thumb over her knuckle in his hand.

Sarah gave a reluctant nod and they waltzed lightly together with no music. Jareth hummed lightly, and slowly, the memories came flooding back in her mind. In her mind, the people slowly gathered like long-forgotten ghosts waltzing beside them. Sarah suddenly pulled away.

"Where is my son?" She asked as the people in the masks around them vanished. Jareth's hand slowly fell to his side.

"He's safe. We'll handle business and then you may have your son and return with him if you wish." Jareth said graciously, almost in a manner of defeat.

Sarah looked suspiciously at him. She tried to keep from melting, but found herself almost wavering. "What business would that be?" She asked him.

"The fact is this Sarah, the Labyrinth is dying. And in order to restore the balance, I must get someone to believe in us. Slowly but surely, if you spread the story we do exist and get people to believe..." He trailed off for a second, not wanting to lose his false front. "Well, everything will be better and children and teenagers and adults will call on us again and realize we're alive, too."

He left out how it was also effecting him. That he too, would die in the end. The part about Sir Diddymus and Ludo. And the worm, and the Fireys. All gone. Vanished without a trace.

"The Labyrinth of memories." Sarah concluded. "Long forgotten ghost stories. You want me to pass on your story to children- to MY son, and have him one day call you?" Sarah began to glare at him. "I'll not have it." She stated as she marched from the room quickly. Wanting to get away as soon as possible.

Jareth began to walk after her, but fell against the wall for balance, crumpling to his knees holding one hand to the wall for support. He studied his hand and watched as it slowly faded, and blinked. It hurt. He felt like some force was litterally tearing off pieces of him. He needed someone to believe. Maybe just being here was enough to make her believe. He wondered as a long coughing fit erupted from his lips. Leaving spots of blood on the tiled ground.

Loki stood in the doorway staring at his king. His ears, catlike, fell flat against his head and he looked to the ground as a tear fell down his face.

"It's the end, sir." Loki whispered, helping Jareth stand.

Jareth tried his best to stand, strong and tall. His strength to get up and try faultered.

"I know it is, Loki... I'm sorry." Jareth said as he slowly took his jacket off and began to retreat to his room. He looked like a child no more than five, that waited for Christmas all year long, only to find it happened for everyone else but him.


	6. Hoggle's Farewell

Author's note: Thank you very much for the kind reviews! lol, I'm trying to make this story a type of drama thingy. I think I'll add some 3 chapters... or possibly more, before I started drawing this story to a close and this story CANNOT be predicted. It will seem you can, but you won't! :P

btw, This story is dedicated to those who believe in the invisible, and though there is no proof, they continue to believe.

Jareth looked at the crystal he held in his palm. No longer light, it weighed his burdens. He had to find a way to make Sarah come to believe in the Labyrinth. To get back the magic and faith in the invisible.

To believe in him again.

She once had faith in him, faith in the proposterous, faith in the things you read in the books. That fairies had granted wishes, that there was a fairygodmother that would show up when you least expected it, to make everything come true. Some prince that waited in the mist that would eventually come and whisk her away to happiness. But that was before life for her began.

Jareth thought for a while, what could've been so bad that it erased everything?

He dropped the crystal and watched it crash to the floor as he held onto himself and began to flicker. Dissappear, then reappear, then disappear again. He watched the shards scatter as he continued holding himself, as he rolled onto the floor, slamming his head on the ground. A tear rolled down his face onto the ground and quickly disappeared. He didn't understand.

He looked up to the ceiling and whispered "Sarah," He held his breath trying to make the pain subside.

"Why won't you believe in me?"

&&&&&&&&

Sarah ran down the stairs to the throne room, recognizing the place the same as before, but Jareth's entourage was nowhere to be seen. Just one dwarf, holding onto a small feathered hat...the one Sir Diddymus wore on his head. Sarah approached him slowly and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Hoggle?" Sarah asked as the tiny dwarf turned toward her, sobbing.

"Sarah?" He quickly got up and limped towards her, she knelt and gave him a hug.

"God, you've changed so much." Hoggle whispered as the tears ran down his face like a cascading waterfall, falling onto her long dark hair. Suddenly, Hoggle pulled away and handed her the hat.

Sarah looked at it momentarily "Did you get this from Sir Diddymus? Where's Ludo?"

Hoggle looked at her. Simple Sarah. He knew in his mind that Sarah had been shown what was going on- maybe she just wanted to try to convince herself otherwise. Hoggle shook his head and looked at the ground.

Sarah immdiately knew what happened. "Hoggle, how- why?"

"Nobody believes in us, Sarah. We're fading away because there's no purpose for us anymore." Hoggle hobbled to the window and looked out at the one place he called home. He wiped a tear away bound to not let her see him cry.

Sarah walked over beside him to look out onto the deserted land. When she looked down, Hoggle seemed transparent. She shook him by his shoulders.

"Hoggle! Please don't! Please- you have to fight!" Hoggle lowered his head as a tear fell and stained the ground. Sarah let herself fall upon her knees and broke into a sobbing fit.

She opened her eyes and saw the place the tear was, and watched it a moment to watch it disappear, as though he was never there.

"I need you."

&&&&&&&&

Jareth watched as Sarah burst into his room, followed by a panicking, Loki.

"Where's my son? I want to leave!" Sarah stood, visibly upset. Jareth dared not to anger her further. She stepped up to him and pulled him to his feet.

"I want to go home, now!"


	7. If Not To Love

**Author's Note: And on to the insanity! I think I will make one more chapter after this one before it finally comes to a close. Thanks for the reviews, and those of you who have kept coming back for more. I'm also contemplating changing the name because this one seems to be a little cliché. So if the name changes, relax, that's all that will be changed.**

**Princess of Rivendell, Silvanus16. Twin Kats, thank you very much!**

"_You came into my life and opened the door; if not to love, what's a life really for?"_

_- Delaney Lindley_

Sarah tugged on Jareth's shoulder's pushing and pulling him closer and father away from her as though he was nothing more than a rag doll. Sarah's tears fell onto the stone floor, letting some of her aggression and sadness fall away from her with it. She collapsed up against his chest, holding him for support, afraid she'd fall if she let go.

He looked at her at cradled her in his arms, finally understanding. If he were in her position, he wouldn't subject his child to it either. He finally understood. He wrapped his arms around her with one of his hands cradling her head like a baby's against his chest.

Loki slowly backed out of the room, understanding that Jareth probably wanted to be alone at the moment. Sarah lifted her head and looked in his eyes.

She mouthed silently "I'm sorry."

Jareth shook his head as some pain coursed through him as though he had just been stabbed. His face grimaced as he bit his lower lip. Things were speeding up. Sarah looked at him, unaware of the pain he felt, looked into his eyes, and brushed a strand of hair from his face.

They hugged a little longer until finally, Sarah stepped away. In the light of the dying sun, the room lit up as though it were on fire. Slowly being consumed by darkness and shadows, taking the land along with it. They sat together on the window sill, talking about all they've missed in each other's lives over the years.

Looking onto the deserted land, lighted only by the dim shine of a crystal moon, they spoke of triumphs, failures, fears, and loneliness.

"After, Toby died, my step-mother just kinda gave up on me, and gave into some type of cancer. My dad fell apart and blamed me, especially when my son, David was born. My dad kept telling Adam wasn't a nice person," Sarah paused for a moment to look at Jareth "I guess when you think you love someone you really stop listening to everyone else."

Jareth sighed and clenched his hand, pretending to feel no pain. Sarah still had not consented to believe. She was as stubborn as ever.

"Sometimes, you just think your way's the only way." Jareth said and smiled half-heartedly at her. Sarah began to get up to go to her room. Jareth, didn't want to have to tell her what was really going on. That he would, in time, disappear too.

When Sarah was gone from sight, Loki walked into the room, to a sobbing Jareth. "Sire, what's the matter with you? Why won't you tell her the truth! That we're all going to disappear unless she consents!"

Jareth glared at Loki. "Because Loki, I love her. I don't want to obligate her to do anything she doesn't want to." Loki's ears fell against his head.

"Then I'm afraid we'll all parish by sunset tomorrow's sunset." Loki said. An uneasy silence gripped the air and held it like someone fighting for survival. Jareth fell down in a coughing fit, as Loki rushed to his side.

Sarah stood outside the door eyes widened with the new found truth. He loved her and he was going to die so she could continue to have her freedom.


	8. Always Too Late

****

"_Just when you think the time is right, it's always too late."_

****

When she woke, Sarah found herself, waking to the same little stone room. She missed about 19 hours of the day. Leaving her little more than an hour. She got out of bed quickly and rushed to the window. It appeared the same to her, but had she seen it from a bird's perspective, she would've noticed how much it decreased in size. It was no bigger than a Hawaiian island. A deserted piece of memory with skies of grey and a forgotten king to rule over it all.

Sarah ran up the steps to Jareth's room to find it empty. She ran down to the throne room to see Jareth and Loki standing, watching the land. Jareth and Loki turned back to see Sarah standing in the doorway.

Loki looked at Jareth and whispered "Hearts will never be practical until they are made unbreakable." With that bit of wisdom, he left Jareth's side and went about lighting the castle's numerous candles.

Sarah ran into Jareth's arms crying. Jareth thought it was time to confess. The pain was getting worse. He could barely think straight.

She searched all night through her heart to see what lied in the core. All she saw in the maze of her mind was his face, kissed by the pale moonlight, emblazoned by the light in her soul that he helped add kenneling to in small amounts.

She loved him.

When the hug was broken, Jareth fell to his knees coughing again. Sarah padded his back, hoping to help.

Sarah called for Loki. There was no answer. Sarah called again. Jareth's coughing stopped. Nothing else sounded in the castle. Nothing that would betray someone else's presence.

Jareth caught his breath. "Sarah, it's no use. Loki's gone." Sarah looked helplessly to the floor. Jareth hugged her and held her hand. "I have something I have to say too. I'm going to die." He spoke quickly to her, for now, every second counted.

"I didn't want to force you to believe in me. You had to do it yourself." Jareth held his side and grimaced as he blinked in and out of existence. Sarah held onto him.

"But I love you! I believe in you!" She shouted out to no one in particular. Jareth continued to hurt, as Sarah fell to her knees crying "I believe. I believe." Her voice shook as she said it.

Jareth and Sarah sat together for a few moments, unsure of what to do. Jareth would live till sun down, then he would disappear. Everything else would come back, but he would never return again.

Sarah weakly smiled at the thought of seeing everyone again. But it wouldn't be the same without Jareth. He was being noble, sacrificing himself for the good of his kingdom.

"Don't be sad, Sarah. Fantasies are supposed to be happy things. Besides, I like to think I played my role of 'Evil Monarch' quite well. You're the heroine of the story. You're supposed to go riding into the sunset and live happily ever after." Jareth tried to put a smile on her face. But, to no avail.

Sarah sighed "I wish I had my radio and my Jim Croce tapes." Jareth clenched his fist and in the middle of the room, Sarah's black radio with cassette tapes next to it. Sarah blinked unbelievingly, then put on one tape and turned the volume up. Jareth forced himself up and danced with her to the sounds of the guitar.

Sarah sang lowly to him "Well, I know it's kinda late. I hope I didn't wake you, but what I gotta say can't wait. I knew you'd understand. Everytime I try to tell you, the words just came out wrong, so I have to say "I love you" in a song." Jareth smiled at the irony.

As the song ended, Jareth sat on the floor leaning against the wall as Sarah walked over to the radio and turned it off.

"You know, for so many years, I thought there was really nothing out there. But when I was growing up, I thought magic was all around us." She shook her head. "But as I grew into my late teens and especially when I met Adam, I knew, there was no magic out there." Sarah hugged him.

Jareth hugged her back and measured how much time he had left by how low the sun hung in the sky. "Sometimes you just have to let go." Jareth said as he let out a soft sigh.

Sarah's eyes teared up again "Then, I guess I'm lucky I had something that made saying goodbye so hard." She wiped her tear-stained cheeks "Any regrets?"

Jareth thought for a moment and began to speak. "Yes, actually. My only regret is not taking the opportunity to spill my heart out to you. And every second of everyday I ask myself why I didn't say something and the only answer I have is that words couldn't and still can't describe what I would have had to tell you." He smiled softly at her and she blushed. "How about you, Sarah?"

Sarah's mind flashed back to the last time she faced the goblin king. The last time she spoke to him, he was offering her love that she mistook for lust.

She sighed "I think I'll look back on all this one day and know love was staring me in the face and exclaiming it was finally here, and I walked away from it."

Jareth whispered in her ear "Remember - just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them too, doesn't mean they don't love you with everything they've got.

His face turned into a grimace as the pain once again took control of him. Slowly, he began to turn transparent. A sky blue hue formed around his being as the sun began to sink lower and lower beyond, what seemed to be, all existence. Fading from sight and life, seeming to take Jareth's slow and heavy breaths along with it. Sarah held him on her knees and sobbed.

"Why isn't it working?" She asked him. She did all she could. She believed in him, she admitted it, and nothing seemed to work.

Jareth looked up at her with teary eyes. He didn't understand himself, overtaken with pain. "Maybe it's not enough." He suggested, going numb, disappearing more and more each second. When in truth, he was part right. It wasn't enough, not anymore. Once the Labyrinth had half-way disappeared, it was already over her head. That, and the fact now, it was too late.

Sarah sobbed as Jareth finally disappeared. She pounded her fists on the stone floor that echoed throughout the entire castle.

"I believe, God damn it! I. Believe. In. Him!" She pounded the words out with her fists on the floor. After a few moments, she realized he wasn't coming back. She felt cold and utterly alone. She slowly picked herself up and glanced around the empty room and walked to the open window. The stars were back and the land seemed to slowly come back to life as the hedge mazes grew back quickly. The walls rebuilt themselves.

Slowly, the kingdom filled with voices. Questions filled the air of "What happened?"

"Where did we all go?"

"What happened to our king?"

Sarah reunited herself with Ludo, Sir Diddymus, Hoggle, and the rest of her friends. She told them of all that happened, regailed them the story of the evil monarch who she stood up against, and how in the end, he wasn't so evil after all.

Sarah woke up the next morning, to find her son screaming. Her husband, Adam, still dead. She shushed her son and put him back to sleep. In the early sun light, she went to her electric typewriter, sat down and wrote a story. A story titled "The Labyrinth". The tale of one woman's triumphs against evil to get her little brother back. She sat back to think about the first sentence and something important Loki told her just before she left,

"_Our lives are shaped by those who love us and those who refuse to love us."_

**Author's Note: THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! This is the second to last chapter. There is one more to go on how this story really ends. STAY TUNED and review! Lol.**


	9. The Happy Ending

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"_The hardest thing is to forget everything about them that ever made you happy, every hug, every kiss, every touch, everything that now makes you want to cry and keep remembering."_

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Sarah completed her dreams of being a writer. "The Labyrinth" went to a number one spot and was a best seller, and just when she thought things couldn't possibly get any better, she received a call that the story had been adopted to screen play by Terry Jones, one of the writers for Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Her character, Sarah, would be played by a promising actress named Jennifer Connelly. And the part of Jareth, the goblin king would be played by the rock star, David Bowie.

Sarah was, herself, amazed at the similarities of David and Jareth. He played his arrogant ways to a cue. Perfect. The hair, the eyes, and even the way they stood were in sync. So much, it made Sarah's heart ache when she saw David in costume. She finally realized what had changed so much I Jareth's eyes over the time period.

Jareth loved her, too. And he cared about her.

When the movie came out, Sarah's heart was filled with pride. She was happy it was completed. She was happy that somewhere in the world, there would always be someone, no matter their age, that believed. A story that traveled through the times, passed on to generations to come. That carried the secret message that held the power and showed how strong believing could be.

However, Sarah was saddened by the memories. She continued to cry on occasion. She felt as though she could've stopped it, and to a degree, she could have. Still, even 2 years later, the pain still hit her hard.

Then all at once, she didn't know how, but she found herself in her living room, her son down the street being watched after, and her hand holding a bottle of rum. And just as suddenly, found herself in the same rut as before. Alone.

She looked around her apartment from her seat in her recliner, got up and walked to the doorway. When she got there, she looked back in the empty room and sighed.

"I wish you were here right now...why am I saying this?" She looked for an answer in the ceiling. "You can't hear me can you?" She waited a moment longer "And you never will."

She turned and went to the kitchen in complete failure. She lifted the bottle to her lips and pulled it back out, then slowly, turning her wrist over, she poured the clear contents of the bottle down the sink. She was tired of hurting. She was tired of not remembering anything and was tired of just trying to numb the pain. It couldn't be done.

She made her way back to the living room to see a familiar form, standing by the recliner, sampling the popcorn. Sarah at first sight, recognized him. Jareth was back. Instantly, she ran into his arms, never wanting to leave.

Jareth breathed in her scent and felt more comfort, than he had in his entire life. He got down on one knee and broke the deafening silence.

"Sarah Williams, will you, be my wife?" Jareth spoke, almost trying to convince himself he knew she would say no. Sarah held her breath and without thinking said "I do."

"How did you come back?" Sarah asked as she hugged her arms around him.

He closed his eyes, the warmth of her touch, overcoming his heart. He answered "You loved me. You couldn't love something, that didn't exist now could you? And with your belief, and thanks to this 'movie' thing, now a lot of people believed in me..And here I am."

Hoggle, walked over from behind the wall, holding a pink and white diamond ring.

He bowed halfway to her and smiled "Thank you, for believing."

Sarah and Jareth were married in the spring. There was happiness and peace throughout the Labyrinth. Jareth was a loving father and asked many questions over the years, the number one was "Who is David Bowie?" and "What's a British?"

And for the first time in years without any pain or regret, they both fell in love with each other. And were able to do something they haven't been able to do for a long time: Smile.

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"_As I stand here looking at you, I wonder if there will ever be a day when I can get over your smile. When I will let go of the hugs you gave me, that I continue to feel. A day when I forget the words you said to me, forget what you meant to me, or forget how much I love you. But no matter what you did to me, or whatever happens to us, I know I could never get over, let go, or forget you."_

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**THE END**

**Thanks to all of you for your reviews! Your support and everything else. You gave me inscentive to finish and thanks to you, it is. If you liked this, Check out my other story on Pirates of the Carribean! A Few Good Years to Be Alive! Thanks again!**


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